In a 71-point statement, Mrs Chaplin, who wore the crucifix to the hearing in her home city of Exeter, said she was ''personally convicted'' to wear the emblem, given to her as a confirmation gift in 1971.

She said: ''I have been a nurse for roughly 30 years and throughout that time I have worn my crucifix. The crucifix is an exceptionally important expression of my faith and my belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.

''To deliberately remove or hide my crucifix or to treat it disrespectfully would violate my faith.''

She started working for the trust continuously in 1989, being made a grade D nurse in 1994, and promoted to an E grade nurse on 2001.

Wearing the old uniform, the cross was visible and she wore it safely for 30 years, Mrs Chaplin said.

When a new-style uniform was introduced, there were still no issues until she was asked to remove the necklace last summer

It was suggested she pin the crucifix inside her uniform but Mrs Chaplin could not accept that.

She explained: ''I was being asked to hide my religion and my faith. I found it disrespectful.''

In September a request to keep the cross pinned outside her uniform was turned down, she said.

This answer ''confirmed to me that they simply wanted to remove the visibility of the crucifix'', she said.

Last July, she was told she was facing a ''disciplinary sanction''. In August she was threatened with formal disciplinary action.

She said she received a letter in September telling her the cross was not a ''mandatory requirement'' of her faith, unlike Muslim headscarves, which ''therefore could be exempted''.

She said: ''I view this as a clear discrimination against Christians. The respondent (the trust) clearly regarded themselves as experts on religious manifestations of all faiths.''

Later that month she accepted formal re-deployment from frontline duties.

Mrs Chaplin's case was highlighted by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his Easter sermon last weekend when he referred to ''wooden-headed bureaucratic silliness'' which has seen some Christians stopped from wearing religious symbols at work.

Rowan Williams said there was a ''strange mixture of contempt and fear'' towards Christianity.

But he urged believers to keep a sense of perspective in the face of opposition and ''think about the larger picture''.

After the hearing Mrs Chaplin said the result was "a very bad day for Christianity."

Asked about her future she said: "I don't know. I wait to find out - but I will be going to work tomorrow."

She vowed not to remove the crucifix, explaining: "I wouldn't have gone this far if I was prepared to take it off.

"I was always prepared to modify the chain with a magnetic clasp(meaning that it would separate more easily if grabbed by a patient)."

Mrs Chaplin, a member of the Free Church of England, added: "I think any Christian in the workplace must be extremely careful to mention the word 'Christianity'."

Asked if she thought other faiths were treated differently, she said: "I think from the press that seems fairly evident."

She conceded that her case was always going to be hard to win as she was "one person taking on a government body."

Mrs Chaplin had considered flexible working after retirement but that avenue was now closed to her, she said.

She explained: "Nurses can retire at 55 but the majority then go back on a nurse bank and to do shifts that suit them. So basically they've taken that option away from me."

Her lawyer Paul Diamond said the case would now go to employment appeal tribunal in London.